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DC plane crash live updates: Investigators comb through wreckage for clues

All 67 people on board the plane and the helicopter were killed in the crash.

ByEmily Shapiro
Last Updated: February 6, 2025, 4:43 PM EST

Hundreds of families are in mourning after an American Airlines regional jet collided with a U.S. Army Black Hawk helicopter on Jan. 29, with both aircraft plunging into the Potomac River near Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport in Washington, D.C.

No one survived.

Sixty-four people were on board the plane, which departed from Wichita, Kansas. Three soldiers were on the helicopter.

Key Headlines

Here's how the news is developing.
Feb 03, 2025, 10:29 AM EST

Crane removes plane part from Potomac

Photographers were on scene Monday morning as a crane removed a piece of the plane from the Potomac River.

A crane retrieves part of the wreckage from the Potomac River, in the aftermath of the collision of American Eagle flight 5342 and a Black Hawk helicopter that crashed into the Potomac River, in Arlington, Va., Feb. 3, 2025.
Eduardo Munoz/Reuters

A crane retrieves part of the wreckage from the Potomac River, in the aftermath of the collision of American Eagle flight 5342 and a Black Hawk helicopter that crashed into the Potomac River, in Arlington, Va., Feb. 3, 2025.
Eduardo Munoz/Reuters

Feb 03, 2025, 9:45 AM EST

Transportation secretary to visit Reagan as crews retrieve wreckage

Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said he’s traveling to Philadelphia on Monday to meet with officials investigating Friday night’s small medical transport jet crash that killed seven people.

Then, Duffy will return to Washington, D.C., to be on site by Reagan airport as crews pull wreckage from the American Airlines crash from the Potomac River.

Feb 03, 2025, 8:36 AM EST

What we know about the victims

Young figure skaters and an engaged American Airlines pilot are among the 67 people killed in the Wednesday night crash.

Here’s what we know about the victims.

Feb 03, 2025, 8:35 AM EST

Major salvage operation begins today

Lifting operations are expected to begin today to remove wreckage from the American Airlines plane out of the Potomac River. The process will take three days, according to the U.S. Army Corps.

Emergency response units search the crash site of the American Airlines plane on the Potomac River after the plane crashed on approach to Reagan National Airport on January 30, 2025 in Washington, DC.
Kayla Bartkowski/Getty Images

After the jet is recovered, crews will shift to recover the Black Hawk helicopter and associated wreckage, officials said Sunday.

Investigators expect to find more remains after they recover the fuselage.

A crane moves in to place on the Potomac River for recovery efforts after the American Airlines crash on Feb. 02, 2025 in Washington, DC.
Samuel Corum/Getty Images

Fifty-five victims have been positively identified so far.

D.C. Fire and EMS Chief John Donnelly said he believes everyone will be recovered.

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